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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Back to Basics

Preface: I try not to blog too much about my pregnancy on my weight loss blog, but I could not help myself this time. Part of me almost didn’t even want to post this, because my problems feel so minor compared to what other people are facing. I am simply trying to get some things off my mind, so please bear with me.

This week I reached the halfway point in
my pregnancy!! That's right I am officially 20 weeks!! I cannot wait for our little Olivia to be here with us!! As I look back over the last 20 weeks,
they have been extremely so amazing and at the same time very challenging. Please do not misunderstand me, my pregnancy is going VERY well. I love being pregnant and to be
honest I have had nothing to complain about so far. I am extremely blessed.

The most challenging part of being pregnant for me has been gaining my pregnancy weight. Gaining my baby weight has been very mentally and emotionally challenging
for me. I know that I need to gain this weight for Olivia and I am willing to do that. However, I want to be able to gain this weight in a healthy way.

Over the last 20 weeks, I have not been gaining my weight while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. As a result, I have gained more weight than I wanted
to in these last 20 weeks. If I had gained this weight while maintaining a healthy lifestyle that would have been one thing. However, over the last couple of weeks I have felt myself letting go and allowing myself to have foods that I have not eaten in years.

So, this week, I have decided to go back to the basics that I learned while I was on Weight Watchers. I am not doing this to lose weight. Leading a healthy lifestyle is important to me, but I have not been doing that very well over the last few weeks. I've been so caught up in my pregnancy weight gain and the number on the
scale. As a result, I have forgotten the things that are most important
to me. When all is said and done and Olivia is with us, I want to know that I lead the healthiest lifestyle possible while I was pregnant.

Here are some of the basics that I am going back to this week.

1. Weighing and Measuring my Foods - I do not think you can lead a healthy lifestyle without knowing how much you are eating and putting into your body. I want to know how much I have eaten, so that I do not go overboard.

2. Tracking - I LOVE tracking. This is one of the main reasons that I was able to lose my weight in 2009. I want to write down everything that goes into my body and continue to remain in control of my food choices.

3. Exercise - I have been faithful to walk throughout my pregnancy and I want to continue to do this for the next 20 weeks.

4. Making Meals at Home - In the last few months we have eaten out a lot. Part of the reason for this is that I have been too tired to cook. Hence the reason for the lack of recipe review blog posts. However, I want to be able to plan out our menu for the week and stick to it. I want to make sure that we eat at home as much as possible, because I know how my food is prepared and how many pointsplus+ it is.

5. Practicing Self-Control - This is an art form that I had down before I become pregnant. However, I've been saying yes to so my foods that I have not been able to say no and stop myself from eating too much. I want to remember to listen to my hunger signals and eat until I am satisfied. This will require me to being to practice self-control again.

Are you struggling in your weight loss journey? Maybe it's time for you to join me and go back to the basics too!

9 comments:

Debra L
said...

You share with us so many things, "the Ups & Downs" of your journey...so May I say DO NOT beat yourself UP for falling off course...You areHUMAN, and YOU have learned the rights from wrong thru WW and You have now picked yourself back up to eat healthy once again. That is the KEY I keep thinking about EATING HEALTHY for life....even when I at times make a few wrong choices!

I wasn't able to post on the blog due to a tech glitch, but I really needed to read this right now! You have the right idea - 'back to basics' concept works so well for any stage of life, really. Can't go wrong there! Thank you for sharing and let us know how we can support you!

My little guy is 4 months old now and I am still working on losing the weight from my first pregnancy (my daughter is 3). I only wish I had known about the weight watchers basics during both pregnancies - to not only avoid the excess weight gain, but also for the health reasons for myself and the little ones growing inside me. Weight Watchers plus has been life changing for me! Weight gain is never easy, and was one of the hardest aspects of being pregnant - but you have a great perspective on it!

I have just discovered your blog, via pinterest :) I am just beginning my weightloss journey, but more importantly, my journey to win the battle against food.

Anyway, blessings to you as you continue on in your pregnancy! I have two tips for you.

(1) Try not to sweat the weight gain...I can see that you are trying, but I know it's hard. But, know that you did the absolute best possible thing by being healthy and at a healthy weight BEFORE getting pregnant.

(2) Breastfeed!!! There are dozens of other great reasons to breastfeed, but breastfeeding burns calories and for me, it absolutely helped the pregnancy weight come off. Within a couple months or so of giving birth, I was not only back to pre-baby weight, I weighed LESS than my pre-baby weight.

I'm new to your blog- but wanted to say CONGRATS on the pregnancy! Your story is encouraging!! I had my 5th (and final) baby 11 months ago and am working my butt off to get healthy/active/thin. I love all the recipe links! Post a belly picture soon!! :)

I just had baby #3 in February and counted points throughout my whole pregnancy. I only gained 30 pounds!! Much better than the 67 pound gain I had with baby #2! At 8 weeks post partum, I am 3 pounds less than my pre-pregnancy weight. This has by far been the easiest recovery!

Honey, I feel you. I lost 100lbs on Weight Watchers several years ago. When I got pregnant with my daughter, I had already gained 20lbs back...and then put 80 on while pregnant. :( Back where I started. Having such a hard time of it this go-round!

BTW, Olivia is SUCH a beautiful name! Good luck and congrat son your baby girl!

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